Technology : Pro and Contra

Technology plays an increasingly important part in our daily lives. While many technological developments may be beneficial – in the field of medicine, for instance – there are many others whose effects are less positive. We may find examples of these in the world of work, in the home and in the whole are of freedom and privacy.

In the world of work, technological advances have had various negative effect. The development of robotics has meant that in industries, such as car manufacturing, robots are replacing people. They work faster and more accurately and they don’t need breaks. As a result, industrial workers see job opportunities decreasing further and unemployment levels rising. In addition, more and more people are working from house using personal computer, which means that they lose the stimulus that comes from working in direct contact with other people and may feel isolated.

Finally, there are the implication of information technology for freedom and privacy. More facts about individuals are being stored in data banks, which may be accessed through network of computers. This creates an ever increasing risk of accidental or deliberate leaking of private details. Everyday more information is collected by banks, credit card companies, consumer organizations, and so on – and who is there to keep an eye on what happens to it? It’s certainly convenient to store information in this way, but I feel it could lead to long term problems. There may be other hidden dangers – theoretically, could a ‘thinking’ computer start to use the data against us?

I sum up, I believe that we must be very careful with technology. While it has clear advantages there is also the danger that it could turn on us and we could find ourselves the victims of our success.